Colored contact lens having very natural appearance

ABSTRACT

A colored contact lens having a very natural appearance is disclosed. The inventive lens has a non-opaque pupil section and iris section that is at least partially opaque and comprised of two portions. A first portion, generally located on the outside of the iris section, has a first shade. A second portion, generally located on the inside of the iris section has a second shade. A jagged border separates the two portions. A third iris section and second jagged border are also disclosed. In some embodiments portions of the iris section may be non-opaque.

This is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/984,817, filedDec. 3, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,477, which in turn is aContinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/704,260, filed May 22,1991, now abandoned, which in turn is a Continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 07/430,222 filed Nov. 1, 1989, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to colored contact lenses and inparticular to such lenses having opaque colored portions that are ableto change the apparent color of the wearer's iris while imparting a verynatural appearance.

It was recognized very early that a contact lens with opaque coloringshould not have a simple solidly colored iris. Such a lens imparts avery unnatural appearance. Wichterle in U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,504discloses an opaque lens having an iris of more than a single color thatis artistically drawn or photographically reproduced. Such a lens neverachieved commercial success. Other attempts to produce an opaque lenswith a natural appearance are disclosed in. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,536,386,(Spivak); 3,712,718 (LeGrand), 4,460,523 (Neefe), 4,719,657 (Bawa),4,744,647 (Meshel et al.), 4,634,449 (Jenkins); European PatentPublication No. 0 309 154 (Allergan) and U.K. Patent Application No. 2202 540 A (IGEL).

Knapp (in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,402) discloses a contact lens having, inits preferred embodiment, colored, opaque dots. The Knapp lens has beenan enormous commercial success. A natural appearance is achieved, yetthe lens is simple and inexpensive to produce, using a simple one-colorprinted dot pattern. At Column 3, lines 23 to 29, Knapp discloses that“For a more natural effect, the printing step may be repeated one ormore times using different patterns in different colors, since uponclose examination the iris's of many persons are found to contain morethan one color. The printed pattern need not be absolutely uniform,allowing for enhancement of the fine structure of the iris.” Theone-color Knapp lenses currently achieving commercial success have theirdots arranged in an irregular pattern to enhance the structure of theiris. However, neither the Knapp commercial lenses, nor the Knapp patentdisclose or suggest how one would arrange a pattern of dots having morethan one color to achieve a more natural appearance.

The present invention is predicated on the surprising discovery thatvery simple multiple-color opaque patterns (some of them in accordancewith the Knapp disclosure) achieve an amazingly naturally appearingiris. The improvement in appearance over the one-color Knapp lenses,currently achieving enormous commercial success, is startling. Like theone color lenses, the lenses of this invention are able to cause afundamental change in the apparent color of the wearer's iris, e.g. fromdark brown to light blue or green. Although the preferred embodiments ofthe invention are two-color lenses, use of more than two colors iscontemplated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprisinga non-opaque pupil section, an iris section surrounding said pupilsection, and a colored, opaque intermittent pattern over said entireiris section, that leaves a substantial portion within the intersticesof the pattern non-opaque, said pattern covering at least about 25percent of the area of said iris section, the elements of said patternbeing undiscernible to the ordinary viewer, wherein a first portion ofthe elements of said pattern are of a first shade and a second portionof the elements of said pattern are of a second shade different fromsaid first shade, wherein said first portion is located generally on theoutside of said iris section and said second portion is locatedgenerally on the inside of said iris section, and a jagged borderseparates said first and second portions, wherein the minimum distanceof said jagged border from the outer perimeter of said iris section isfrom about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of said iris section, andthe maximum distance of said border from the outer perimeter of saidiris section is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of saidiris section, thereby providing a lens capable of changing the apparentcolor of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting a verynatural appearance.

A second aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lenscomprising a non-opaque pupil section, an opaque iris sectionsurrounding said pupil section except for non-opaque elements in saidiris section undiscernible to the ordinary viewer, wherein a firstportion of said opaque iris section is of a first shade, and a secondportion of said opaque iris section is of a second shade different fromsaid first shade, said first portion is located generally on the outsideof said iris section and said second portion is located generally on theinside of said iris section, and a jagged border separates said firstand second portions, wherein the minimum distance of said jagged borderfrom the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 5% to about45% of the radial width of said iris section, and the maximum distanceof said border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is fromabout 45% to about 95% of the radial width of said iris section, therebyproviding a lens capable of changing the apparent color of the iris of aperson wearing the lens and imparting a natural appearance.

A third aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lenscomprising a non-opaque pupil section and an .opaque iris sectionsurrounding said pupil section, wherein a first portion of said irissection is of a first shade, and a second portion of said iris sectionis of a second shade different from said first shade, said first portionis located generally on the outside of said iris section and said secondportion is located generally on the inside of said iris section and ajagged border separates said first and second portions, wherein theminimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of saidiris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of saidiris section, and the maximum distance of said border from the outerperimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of theradial width of said iris section, thereby providing a lens capable ofchanging the apparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens andimparting a natural appearance.

A fourth aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lenscomprising a non-opaque pupil section and an iris section surroundingsaid pupil section, said iris section comprising a first outer portionand a second inner portion separated by a jagged border wherein theminimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of saidiris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of saidiris section and the maximum distance of said border from the outerperimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of theradial width of said iris section, wherein one of said sections isnon-opaque and the other section has opaque coloring.

A fifth aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lenscomprising a non-opaque pupil section and an iris section surroundingsaid pupil section, said iris section comprising a first outer portionsurrounding a second intermediate portion and a third inner portionsurrounded by said intermediate portion, said first and second portionsseparated by a first jagged border and said second and third portionsseparated by a second jagged border, wherein either said first and thirdportions have opaque coloring and said second portion is non-opaque, orsaid second portion has opaque coloring and said first and thirdportions are non-opaque, or said first, second and third portions haveopaque coloring and said second portion has a different shade then saidfirst and second portions.

Preferably, in the first aspect of this invention, the elements of thepattern are opaque dots, and the following color combinations are used:

FIRST (OUTER) PORTION SECOND (INNER) PORTION Green Hazel Blue HazelBrown Hazel Blue Gray

The most preferable dot patterns are as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.

The term “non-opaque” as used herein is intended to describe a part ofthe lens that is uncolored or colored with translucent coloring.

The term “second shade different from said first shade” as used hereinis intended to mean that both shades are of totally different colors,such as blue and hazel; or that both shades are the same basic color,but having different intensities such as light blue and dark blue.

The term “ordinary viewer” is intended to mean a person having normal20-20 vision standing about 5 feet from a person wearing the lenses ofthis invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a dot pattern very close to the one-color dot patternof the Knapp lenses currently being sold.

As shown below, this pattern may be overprinted to form a lens inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred dot pattern of an inside portion of dotsin accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred dot pattern of an outside portion of dotsin accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a alternative dot pattern for an outside portion ofdots in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative dot pattern for an inside portion ofdots in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a dot pattern for overprinting lenses in accordancewith the invention with a third color.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate alternative embodiments of iris patterns inaccordance with the second and third aspects of the invention,respectively.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate further alternative embodiments of irispatterns in accordance with the fourth and fifth aspects of theinvention, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Contact lenses in accordance with the preferred embodiments of thisinvention are also in accordance with those disclosed in Knapp's U.S.Pat. No. 4,582,402. Such a prior art lens is illustrated in FIG. 1. Ithas a non-opaque pupil section 20 in the center of lens, and an annulariris section 21 surrounding the pupil section. For hydrophilic lensesperipheral section 22 surrounds iris section 21. A colored, opaque,intermittent pattern is located over the entire iris section 21, as showin FIG. 1. The pattern leaves a substantial portion of the iris sectionwithin the interstices of the pattern non-opaque. The non-opaque areasof iris section 21 appear white in FIG. 1.

The elements of the pattern are preferably dots, and especiallypreferred are dots, some of which run together, as shown in FIG. 1.Certain portions of the iris section 21 are less densely covered withdots than other portions. The less densely covered portions formapproximately radial spokes. This arrangement enhances the structure ofthe iris of a person wearing the lens.

Of course, the opaque pattern may be comprised of dots having any shape,regular or irregular, such as round, square, hexagonal, elongated, etc.Furthermore, the elements of the pattern may have a shape other thandots, so long as the elements are undescrinable to the ordinary viewer,cover at least about 25 percent of the iris, and leave a substantialportion of the iris section within the interstices of the patternnon-opaque.

Thus far, this description has covered the Knapp invention of U.S. Pat.No. 4,582,402 and lenses in accordance thereof which have been soldcommercially since about November, 1986. The one-color commercial lenseshave a pattern that is almost exactly like that of FIG. 1, except thatthe commercial lenses have a smaller pupil section and a wider irissection caused by about two extra rows of dots on the periphery of pupilsection 20. That is, the two extra rows of dots, actually present in thecommercial lenses, are not shown in FIG. 1.

The improvement of this invention is a very simple multiple-colorpattern that greatly improves the natural appearance of the wearer'siris, even over that of the one-color lens currently achieving muchcommercial success. To produce this two-color pattern of this invention,the elements of the pattern (preferably dots) are in two portions. Afirst portion of the elements are of a first shade and are locatedgenerally on the outside of the iris section, i.e. at or near the outerperimeter of the annular iris section. A preferable first outsideportion pattern is shown in FIG. 3. A second portion of the elements areof a second shade different from the first shade and are locatedgenerally on the inside of the iris section, i.e. at or near the innerperimeter of the annular iris section and surrounded by the firstoutside portion. A preferable second inside portion pattern appears inFIG. 2. A jagged border separates the inner and outer portions of thepattern elements. This border need not be precise. Some dots of thefirst shade may be mixed in with dots of the second shade, so long asthere is a jagged border or border zone across which there takes place anoticable change of shade. If the patterns of FIGS. 2 and 3 are mergedto form a two-color lens, the jagged outer edge of the pattern of FIG. 2will merge with the jagged inner edge of the pattern of FIG. 3 to formthe required jagged border between the two portions having differentshades.

Producing the opaque portions of the iris section is preferablyaccomplished by printing the lens twice using the known printing processof Knapp's U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,402, incorporated herein by reference.Very briefly, a plate or cliche having depressions in the desiredpattern is smeared with ink of the desired shade. Excess ink is removedby scrapping the surface of the plate with a doctor blade leaving thedepression filled with ink. A silicon rubber pad is pressed against theplate to pick up the ink from the depressions and then is pressedagainst a surface of the lens to transfer the pattern to the lens. Theprinted pattern is then cured to render it unremovable from the lens. Ofcourse, either the anterior or posterior surfaces of the lens may beprinted, but printing the anterior surface is presently preferred.

The preferred lenses and inks used to practice this invention are knownand described in Loshaek's U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,240, incorporated hereinby reference. Very briefly, a lens constructured of polymer having—COOH, —OH, or —NH₂ groups is printed with ink containing bindingpolymer having the same functional groups, opaque coloring substance,and a diisocyanate compound. First a solution of binding polymer andsolvent is prepared and this solution is mixed with paste containing thecoloring substance to form an ink. The preferred binding polymersolutions described in the Loshaek patent have a viscosity of 25,000CPS. It is currently preferred to form inks for the present lenses frombinding polymer solutions having a viscosity of about 40,000 CPS. Theopaque ink is printed and cured on the lens surface.

Of course, alternative ways to form colored opaque elements of the lensmay be used. For example, selected portions of the iris section of awetted hydrophilic lens may be impregrenated with a solution of a firstsubstance, such as barium chloride. Then the lens may be immersed in asolution of a second substance, such as sulfuric acid, that forms anopaque, water-insoluble precipitate with the first substance, forexample barium sulfate. Thus an opaque precipitate forms within the lensin a predetermined pattern in the iris section. Next all or at least theopaque pattern of the iris section is colored with translucent tint intwo colors in accordance with this invention. This provides a lenshaving a colored opaque pattern in accordance with the invention. If theentire iris is colored with translucent tint, then the intersticeswithin the pattern will be translucently colored, but still non-opaqueand in accordance with the first or second aspects of the presentinvention. Optionally, the pupil section of the lens may be colored by anon-opaque tint, because such tint is not visible when the lens isagainst the dark pupil present in the eye of the wearer. Otheralternative opaquing methods include use of a laser (U.S. Pat. No.4,744,647) and finely ground particles U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,523.

The following examples illustrate preferred embodiments, but in general,the exact opaque pattern, and the methods of achieving opacity andcoloring are not critical to practice of the invention.

In the following examples, all dimensions are for unhydrated hydrophiliclenses. Upon hydration, the lenses expand by a factor of about 1.3 timestheir unhydrated size. Hence, upon hydration, all dimensions will beabout 1.3 times the values that follow. However, the calculateddistances of the jagged border from the outer perimeter of the irissection as a percent of the radial width of the iris section will notchange upon hydration.

Although preferred lenses of this invention expand by a factor of about1.3 upon hydration, those skilled in the art will recognize thatdifferent lenses having different amounts of expansion upon hydrationmay also be used.

EXAMPLE 1

A hydrophilic lens made of hydroxyethyl methacrylate, ethoxy ethylmethacrylate, and methacrylic acid as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,240is printed on its front, convex side with ink of a first shadecontaining pigment, binding polymer made from the same monomers used toform the lens, hexamethylene diisocyanate and solvent. The printedpattern is shown in FIG. 1. It covers most of the iris section, havingan annular form, with an outer radius R¹ of about 5.2 mm and an innerradius R² of about 2.2 mm. After the ink has cured, the first pattern isoverprinted with the pattern shown in FIG. 2 having a different shadethan the pattern of FIG. 1. To accomplish this second printing, it ishighly preferable to have the centers 23 of the patterns overlap.However, it is not necessary to rotationally align the patterns of FIGS.1 and 2. That is, after the FIG. 1 pattern is printed on the lens, therotation of the lens or the pad used in printing the pattern of FIG. 2about lens center 23 is not important. An attractive lens is producedregardless of this rotation.

The lens pattern of FIG. 2 has an inner radius R³ of about 2 mm and avariable outer radius having a maximum of about 4.5 mm at 24 and aminimum of about 2.7 mm at 25. Variations in the outer radius create thejagged outer edge of the FIG. 2 pattern. Notice that since the FIG. 1pattern has a has radius R¹ of 5.2 mm, the outer pattern extends inward,into the iris section distances of about 5.2-4.5 or 0.7 mm (minimum) toabout 5.2-2.7 or 2.5 mm (maximum).

The radial width of the iris section is outer radius R¹ minus innerradius R³ or 5.2 mm −2 mm =3.2 mm. Hence, it can be seen that thedistance of the jagged border from the outer perimeter of the irissection ranges from a minimum of 0.7/3.2 or about 20% of the radialwidth of the iris section to a maximum of 2.5/3.2 or about 80% of theradial width of the iris section. In general, the minimum distance ofthe jagged border from the outer perimeter of the iris section should befrom about 5% to about 45% (more preferably about 10% to about 30%) ofthe radial width of the iris section and the maximum distance of thejagged border from the outer perimeter should be from about 45% to about95% (more preferably about 60% to about 80%) of the radial width. Hence,the outer pattern comprises a substantial portion of the area of theiris and is not merely a thin outer ring at the periphery as described,for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,657, (Bawa) col. 7, line 56 to Col.8, line 34. The finished lens of this example will have the FIG. 1pattern overprinted by the FIG. 2 pattern and will thus have an outerportion comprised solely of elements of the first shade of FIG. 1 and aninner portion comprised primarily of the second shade of FIG. 2, butwith some of the FIG. 1 shade showing through the interstices of theFIG. 2 pattern.

Although the exact shades used in practicing the invention are notcritical, the shades produced by the Inks shown in the table below arepresently preferred.

PIGMENT WT % IN INK NOMINAL PCN INK NO. COLOR TiO₂ FeO (Red) Feo (Blk)FeO (Yel) Cr₂O₃ BLUE 1 Blue 5.3 0 0 0 0 0.6 2 Hazel 0.7 1.9 0 5.3 0 0.13 Green 0.0 0 0 0 12.2 0 4 Brown 0.0 5.3 8.7 0 8.8 0 5 Yellow 0.3 0.8 04.6 0 0 Brown 6 Misty Gray 4.2 0 1.1 0 0 0 7 Dark Gray 4.3 0 7.1 0 0 0 8Black 0.0 0 14.6 0 0 0 In the above table, the following abbreviationsare used: TiO₂ Titanium Dioxide FeO (Red) Red Iron Oxide FeO (Blk) BlackIron Oxide FeO (Yel) Yellow Iron Oxide Cr₂O₃ Chromium Sesquioxide PCNBlue Phthalocyanine blue (Pigment Blue 15, C.I.74160)

In addition to the pigments, the inks contain binder polymer, solvent,and di- or higher isocyanate compound as described in Loshaek's U.S.Pat. No. 4,668,240. The following specific color combinations arecurrently preferred:

EXAMPLE FIG. 1 PATTERN FIG. 2 PATTERN 1A Ink No. 3 (Green) Ink No. 2(Hazel) 1B Ink No. 1 (Blue) Ink No. 2 (Hazel) 1C Ink No. 4 (Brown) InkNo. 5 (Yellow Brown) 1D Ink No. 1 (Blue) Ink No. 6 (Gray)

EXAMPLE 2

A contact lens is printed first with the pattern of FIG. 3 and then withthe pattern of FIG. 2 in a second shade. When using these two patterns,centers 23 of both patterns are in alignment and in addition thepatterns are rotationally aligned so that radial lines RL¹ and RL²coincide. The following color combinations are currently preferred:

EXAMPLE FIG. 3 PATTERN FIG. 2 PATTERN 2A Ink No. 1 (Blue) Ink No. 2(Hazel) 2B Ink No. 3 (Green) Ink No. 2 (Hazel) 2C Ink No. 4 (Brown) InkNo. 5 (Yellow Brown) 2D Ink No. 1 (Blue) Ink No. 6 (Misty Gray) 2E InkNo. 6 (Misty Gray) Ink No. 7 (Dark Gray)

EXAMPLE 3

Contact lenses are printed with the pattern of FIG. 4, then with thepattern of FIG. 5 in a second shade, and finally with the pattern ofFIG. 6 in a third shade. Centers 23 of each pattern are aligned andpatterns 4 and 5 are rotationally aligned along radial lines RL³ andRL⁴. As seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the jagged border between the portions ofthe iris sections having the first and second shades will be a minimumdistance of about 10% of the radial width of the iris section from theouter perimeter of the iris section and a maximum distance of about 80%of the radial width. This border is very jagged and less distinct thanthe border of examples 1 and 2. The following color combinations arecurrently preferred:

FIG. 4 FIG. 5 FIG. 6 EXAMPLE PATTERN PATTERN PATTERN 3A Ink No. 3 InkNo. 2 Ink No. 8 (Green) (Hazel) (Black) 3B Ink No. 1 Ink No. 2 Ink No. 8(Blue) (Hazel) (Black) 3C Ink No. 5 Ink No. 5 Ink No. 8 (Brown) (YellowBrown) (Black) 3D Ink No. 1 Ink No. 6 Ink No. 8 (Blue) (Gray) (Black) 3EInk No. 6 Ink No. 7 Ink No. 8 (Misty Gray) (Dark Gray) (Black)

Example 3A to 3E illustrate three-color lenses.

All of the lenses in accordance with the above examples have a much morenatural appearance than the one-color lenses in accordance with Knapp'sU.S. Pat. No., 4,582,402, currently achieving enormous commercialsuccess.

EXAMPLE 4

Prepare a lens in accordance with the second aspect of this invention byusing the patterns of FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, an opaque iris section 26 hasnon-opaque elements 27 (only a few of which are labeled). The non-opaqueelements of FIG. 7 are roughly radially elongated areas and dots. Theopaque area has a first section of a first shade and a second innersection of a second shade different from the first shade, separated byjagged border 28.

EXAMPLE 5

Prepare a lens in accordance with the third aspect of the invention byusing the patterns of FIG. 8. The iris section of the lens is opaque. Anouter section 29 has a first shade and an inner section 30 has a secondshade. Jagged border 31 separates sections 29 and 30.

Although lenses in accordance with Examples 4 and have not beenproduced, it is believed that they would achieve a far more naturalappearance than the same lenses having a single color. Yet preparinglenses in accordance with these two embodiments is much more simple andmuch less expensive than attempting to reproduce a natural iris byphotographic or artistic means as disclosed by Wichterle in U.S. Pat.No. 3,679,504.

FIG. 9 illustrates a lens in accordance with the fourth aspect of theinvention wherein a substantial portion of the natural color of thewearer's iris may be visible. The lens of FIG. 9 comprises a non-opaquepupil section 40 and an iris section comprising a first outer portion 41and a second inner portion 42. Iris portions 41 and 42 are separated byjagged border 43 having the same minimum and maximum distances from theouter perimeter 44 of the iris section as percentages of the radialwidth of the iris section as described previously. One of portions 41 or42 is non-opaque and the other portion has opaque coloring. For example,inner portion 42 may have opaque coloring and outer portion 41 may benon-opaque, or vice versa. If the non-opaque portion is uncolored, or ifthe non-opaque portion is translucently colored and the wearer hasiris's having dark-enough color to show through the non-opaque coloring,than a substantial portion of the natural color of the wearer's iriswill be visible. For hydrophilic lenses, a non-opaque outer section 45surrounds the iris section. Preferably, the opaque coloring is a patternof elements not discernable to the ordinary viewer, but solid opaquecolor coloring or solid coloring with non-opaque elements could also beused.

FIG. 10 illustrates a lens accordance with the fifth aspect of theinvention. This lens, like that of the lens of FIG. 9, also may allow asubstantial portion of the natural color of the wearer's iris to bevisible. The lens of FIG. 10 comprises a pupil section 50 and an irissection comprising a first outer portion 51 surrounding a secondintermediate portion 52, and a third inner portion 53 surrounded byintermediate portion 52. Outer portion 51 and intermediate portion 52are separated by a first jagged border 54. Intermediate portion 52 andinner portion 53 are separated by a second jagged border 55. Forhydrophilic lenses, a non-opaque outer section 56 surrounds the irissection. In this embodiment of the invention, three different colorschemes are contemplated.

A. Inner portion 53 and outer portion 51 have opaque coloring andintermediate portion 52 is non-opaque, or

B. Intermediate portion 52 has opaque coloring and inner portion 53 andouter portion 51 are non-opaque, or

C. All three portions 51, 52 and 53 have opaque coloring andintermediate portion 52 has a different shade than outer portion 51 andinner portion 53.

Preferably the opaque coloring is a pattern of elements undiscernable tothe ordinary viewer, but, of course, other types of opaque coloring maybe used.

When the lenses of FIGS. 9 and 10 having a non-opaque section allow thewearer's natural iris color to be visible, identically colored lensescould cause very different appearances in different wearers, allowingvery pleasing and varied color effects.

The above examples and the drawings are intended to illustrate, but notlimit the present invention, which is as defined in the claims. Numerousvariations from the examples and drawings but still in accordance withthe invention are possible. For example, the colors and patternarrangements may be varied. Either the anterior or posterior surface ofthe lens or both may be printed. The opaque material may be on the lenssurface or within the lens, or both. Furthermore, in lenses intended forwearers having lightly colored iris's, the opaque coloring may be merelytranslucent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hydrophilic colored contact lens comprising: anon-opaque pupil section, a generally annular iris section surroundingthe pupil section, and a non-opaque peripheral section surrounding theiris section, the iris section having a colored, printed, opaque,intermittent pattern of elements covering at least about 25 percent ofthe area of the iris section, the pattern leaving a portion of the irissection non-opaque within interstices of the patter, the non-opaqueportion of the iris section including generally radially elongatedareas, the intermittent pattern extending across the entire area of theiris section, the iris section having an outer perimeter and an innerperimeter, and including pattern elements of a first shade, patternelements of a second shade located generally at or near the innerperimeter of the iris section, and a jagged border zone generally alongan interface of the pattern elements of the first and second shades, theiris section also including pattern elements of a third shade, whereinsome of the pattern elements of the first shade are mixed with thepattern elements of the second shade, and a noticeable change of shadeoccurs across the jagged border zone, wherein the minimum distance ofthe jagged border zone from the outer perimeter is from about 5% toabout 45% of the radial width of the iris section, and the maximumdistance of the jagged border zone from the outer perimeter is fromabout 45% to about 95% of the radial width of the iris section, whereinthe elements of the pattern are indiscernible to the ordinary viewer,and wherein the lens is capable of changing the apparent color of theiris of a person wearing the lens and imparting a very naturalappearance.
 2. The lens of claim 1, wherein the maximum distance of thejagged border from the outer perimeter is from about 60% to about 80% ofthe radial width of the iris section.
 3. The lens of claim 1, whereinthe pattern elements of the first shade are located on a substantialportion of the area of the iris section.
 4. The lens of claim 1, whereinthe third shade is located at least at the outer perimeter of the irissection.
 5. The lens of claim 1, wherein the pattern is printed on thelens with ink having a binding polymer.
 6. A hydrophilic colored contactlens comprising: a non-opaque pupil section, a generally annular irissection surrounding the pupil section, and a non-opaque peripheralsection surrounding the iris section, the iris section having a colored,printed, opaque, intermittent pattern of elements covering at leastabout 25 percent of the area of the iris section, the pattern leaving aportion of the iris section non-opaque within interstices of the patter,the non-opaque portion of the iris section including generally radiallyelongated areas, the intermittent pattern extending across the entirearea of the iris section, the iris section having an outer perimeter andan inner perimeter, and including pattern elements of a first shade,pattern elements of a second shade located generally at or near theinner perimeter of the iris section, and a jagged border zone generallyalong an interface of the pattern elements of the first and secondshades, the iris section also including pattern elements of a thirdshade, wherein the pattern is printed on the lens with ink having abinding polymer, wherein some of the pattern elements of the first shadeare mixed with the pattern elements of the second shade, and anoticeable change of shade occurs across the jagged border zone, whereinthe minimum distance of the jagged border zone from the outer perimeteris from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of the iris section,and the maximum distance of the jagged border zone from the outerperimeter is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of the irissection, wherein the elements of the pattern are indiscernible to theordinary viewer, and wherein the lens is capable of changing theapparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting avery natural appearance.
 7. The lens of claim 6, wherein the bindingpolymer includes functional groups selected from —COOH, —H, and —NH₂. 8.A hydrophilic colored contact lens comprising: a non-opaque pupilsection, a generally annular iris section surrounding the pupil section,and a non-opaque peripheral section surrounding the iris section, theiris section having a colored, printed, opaque, intermittent pattern ofelements covering at least about 25 percent of the area of the irissection, the pattern leaving a portion of the iris section non-opaquewithin interstices of the pattern, the non-opaque portion of the irissection including generally radially elongated areas, the intermittentpattern extending across the entire area of the iris section, the irissection having an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, and includingpattern elements of a first shade, pattern elements of a second shadelocated generally at or near the inner perimeter of the iris section,and pattern elements of a third shade, the pattern elements comprisingink having a binding polymer, wherein the iris section includes a jaggedborder zone generally along an interface of the pattern elements of thefirst and second shades, wherein some of the pattern elements of thefirst shade are mixed with the pattern elements of the second shade, anda noticeable change of shade occurs across the jagged border zone,wherein the minimum distance of the jagged border zone from the outerperimeter is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of the irissection, and the maximum distance of the jagged border zone from theouter perimeter is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width ofthe iris section, wherein the elements of the pattern are indiscernibleto the ordinary viewer, and wherein the lens is capable of changing theapparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting avery natural appearance.
 9. The lens of claim 8, wherein the bindingpolymer includes functional groups selected from —COOH, —OH, and —NH₂.10. The lens of claim 8, wherein the hydrophilic lens is unhydrated. 11.The lens of claim 8, wherein the hydrophilic lens is hydrated after thecolored, opaque, intermittent pattern of elements is printed on thelens.